Almost all that is known of life in Fossil Lake came from quarries on Cundick Ridge, Fossil Butte, Fossil Ridge, and nearby sites. Commercial fossil fish mining began in the last decades of the 19th century. Some specimens were sold as souvenirs, while others—the spectacular, the rare, and the unusual—went to museums throughout the world. A great body of knowledge about life in Fossil Lake accumulated in these museums, much of which would never have come to light without the collectors and their quarries.